And Then the Rain
by Alithea
Summary: Post EW. Iria Winner is on a newly terraformed planet when she is called to help out her brother. And then she meets Sally. F/F content.
1. Very Different Lights

**Title: And Then the Rain  
>Chapter 1: Very Different Lights<br>Rating: PG-13  
>Characters are not mine. I am just borrowing.<br>F/F content.**

The interesting and terrifying thing about the newly terraformed planet was how much it resembled Earth, and how very different it was as well. Life sprang up in familiar, but varied patterns, and it all started when one of the scientists realized that the beetles, which were supposed to be of one particular species, had become an entirely different species almost over night.

The new planet that was meant to be flawlessly designed decided it was not at ease being a mere copy. This created problems for those that were mapping it out for human habitations. There were new wonders, and many new dangers to be discovered. And some bright spark decided it should only take a few years of people adventuring around to discover all the little pitfalls.

Iria Winner sat in her office and read the latest mail from her family. There were lots of photos from her sisters, and one peculiar postcard from Quatre that let her know he was doing well, but not to pry. She never did.

She took a breath and watched the blue and red glow from the fireflies milling about outside. The lovely light was accompanied by the sound of a set of frogs that the two biologists at the outpost were fighting over naming rights to. The frogs made an odd sound that was less of a croak and more of a hiccup. Not having spent much time on Earth Iria found the noises charming.

As she finished with her mail she wondered when the next set of adventuring scientists would arrive. The conversations on her end of the planet were becoming fairly dull, though every so often a member from the next outpost, or even further would travel through with data on new discoveries from their neck of the woods, or swamp, or mountain.

Iria brushed a length of blonde hair from her face and behind her ear. She wasn't sure how she managed to get picked for a swamp, but she was beyond grateful that she hadn't been tossed in the desert.

She wanted something new and got it in spades.

The computer on her desk chirped at her to let her know she had an incoming call. The signals around the planet were pretty stable, but the communication back to Earth, or the farther colonies were still very spotty.

She turned her camera on and raised an eyebrow.

"Quatre? What can I do for you?"

Her brother grimaced and then said, "How quickly can you get out to these coordinates?"

She eyed the numbers on the left hand corner of her screen.  
>"Very fast. What do you-"<p>

"Bring medical supplies and flare gun," Quatre said hurriedly. "Fire the flare when you are a mile out."

She nodded, and hated the rushed way in which he spoke.

She grabbed the keys to a jeep and told the rest of her team to get the medical bay ready. Then she left with one medic to help her out in case she needed another pair of hands.

The fireflies changed colors and the jeep sped past them, purple and green stars in the dark of night.

In her head Sally collected a blur of memories after having been shot. She remembered thinking it was a shame that trouble should be started on a planet that was meant to be a second start for some people. That as new and untamed as the frontier planet was, how beautiful and full of hope it was.

The rest of the pieces went in and out like waves. There had been a fire fight. There had been an explosion. She had been carried, and somewhere Quatre's face had become more feminine than usual.

She opened her eyes lazily and realized she had an oxygen mask over her face. It was hard to focus her vision.

"Sally," a voice said softly. "Dr. Sally Po?"

Sally nodded vaguely and shut her eyes.

"You've been shot," the voice said, "but more than that you've had a severe allergic reaction to the local pollen in the air."

She found herself grinning.

"Yeah, it is pretty funny for a Preventer to be nearly killed by plants," the voice said. "I'm sure you'd like to get better, and you will in a few days. Until then, I'm afraid you'll just have to sleep it off."

And suddenly, Sally felt herself drifting off, and her eyes closing.

Iria looked through her notes on her current patient's chart. Quatre had punched in some impressive access codes to unlock Sally's medical records for viewing. She was impressed that he had done it so quickly, but by the look on his face he was obviously close to the woman.

She bit her lip and nodded.

"Well?" Quatre had hardly left her side at all.

Iria smiled. "She'll be fine. She just needs rest and a few more allergy shots." She read a few more pieces of information and sighed. "She's quite impressive, your, Sally Po."

"She's merely a co-worker," Quatre stated quickly.

"Quatre, you're a Preventer. I know it, and it's fine. Talk to me like I have full clearance."

"Do you?"

She huffed and shook her head. Then she reached over to her computer and typed something in. Her personnel file popped up.

"Code name...Winter?" His brow furrowed and then he laughed. "It would be you. Why-"

"Well, why didn't you tell me. Do you think they'd just send teams of scientists out here without some Preventer presence?"

"No, I-" He looked at her oddly and then said, "She's actually my superior officer. A friend of mine from before, with the Gundams…he'd kill me if I let anything happen to her."

Iria nodded. "Then I'll make double sure Sally gets back to Earth in one piece."

He nodded and smiled. "I just can't get rid of you can I, Iria? You'll always be there to help me out."

"Always. Even when you don't think I can."

To be continued...


	2. Reflective Sounds

**Title: And then the Rain  
>Chapter 2: Reflective Sounds<br>Rating: PG-13  
>FF content.  
>Characters are not mine I am just borrowing.<strong>

Back on Earth Sally found herself missing the sights and sounds of the frontier planet. The official name was a collection of numbers and letters she could never remember properly, but the scientists stationed there had taken to calling it Ariadne.

It sounded right to her, and so that's what she called it as well.

She was currently stationed in New Orleans, which was technically Neo Orleans, but no one could stomach calling it that. It was just as vibrant and full of life as the old city had been. It carried the same amount of ghost stories and places for an assortment of debauchery.

She watched the fireflies and wondered what they would think of their cousins back on Ariadne. The simple yellow glow was just as divine and inspiring to see as the multicolored version. There were frogs croaking as well, but they were faint under the sound of the city roaring with the chatter of people, and music.

Sitting back in her chair she shut her eyes and tried to hear the frogs, and just as she was sure she could just hear that simple croaking melody her phone rang.

She sighed and answered it. "This is Water."

"This is Winter."

Sally stood up. "Where are you?"

"Close. The coordinates are being sent on a separate frequency. Just bring yourself, and hurry."

Sally never like it when events reflected against each other. It generally meant that something terrible would happen if the result had been good before. But she had arrived just in time, and she looked over Iria's wound and shook her head.

"We need to stop meeting like this," Sally said softly.

"I...I know," Iria said. "I've taken a pain killer, but I need-"

Sally put her hand on Iria's forehead. "Stop talking and let me save your life Dr. Winner."

Iria tried to chuckle and then found herself drifting away.

Quatre was standing by her bed when she finally woke up. She almost laughed, but found her side hurt too much.

"You should try and stay still," he said. He took her hand. "What would our sisters say if they saw us?"

"Oh..." She frowned and then said, "They'd be terribly disappointed."

Her eyes drifted at the sound of an argument coming towards her room. She saw Sally and a young man arguing back and forth, but couldn't really make out what was being said. She assumed it was because Quatre had pushed the button for her painkillers.

She had assumed correctly.

Sally crossed her arms over her chest as she waited to board her shuttle. She wasn't quite sure where she was going, but she knew she was being partnered with someone different. She looked at her boarding pass and nodded at the colony number. There was going to be a connecting flight to another location, but she wouldn't know what or where until she arrived at the first destination.

As she waited she watched three businessmen chat about the current universal economy. They disagreed about the current Earth's president's policies, and yammered on about the lack of a standing military.

Sally shook her head and looked over the letter Wufei had sent her.

It wasn't much of a letter. It was only three words on a white note card: _I am sorry_.

It made her smile.

It was the only apology she was going to get, and that was fine. She never expected one to begin with. The fight she had with him in New Orleans was one of their biggest, and they hadn't spoken to each other in weeks. Then she sent him roses with no note, and he sent the card. So they had made up, and the thought of Wufei opening the flowers as his fiancé watched made her laugh, so they were even too.

Boarding was finally announced and Sally slipped by the businessmen to find her seat, which was in the very back of the shuttle. She shut her eyes and thought of fireflies and the singing of frogs, and didn't open them until someone sat down next to her.

She looked over and smiled when she saw Iria Winner's face.

"Off again?" Sally asked.

"To the outer reaches probably," Iria replied.

"Very likely...very likely."

To be continued...


	3. Winter Water

**Title: And then the Rain  
>Chapter 3: Winter Water<br>Rating: PG-13  
>FF content. Characters are not mine. I am just borrowing.**

They had been placed in the same small hotel room in one of the more undesirable neighborhoods of J Colony, also known as Outer Metropolis. It was one of the few colonies that thrived on being nothing but one giant city, bragging to be bigger and better than any of the major cities on Earth.

There was a long stretch of green that served as the colony's main park that the hotel had a mild view of if one stuck her head out the window and stretched out far enough. Iria was doing her best to take in the view while Sally got out of the shower and changed.

It was an odd assignment for them to be on. They were there for surveillance purposes. Sally had been on quite a few missions like that. Living in close quarters in snow storms or heat waves, usually it was a heat wave. There was nothing like the added sensation of sweat to raise the level of claustrophobia in a small room.

Iria ducked back into the room in time to see Sally pulling a relatively clean t-shirt over her bareback. She bit her lip and remembered what Quatre had said about his friend.

She was trying to imagine what possible use two doctors could be on such a mission. So far they had only managed to hear bland conversations about what porn sites had the hottest ladies, and why the newer net games were so righteous. And the emails and video calls were just about all on par with the apartment conversations.

With a sigh, Iria sat back down on the bed and looked at her computer.

"Explain to me what we're listening for again?"

Sally pulled her hair back into a ponytail and then wrapped it around into a bun. She leaned against the doorway and said, "Anything illegal."

"I don't suppose their porn preferences count?"

"They do not, and are hardly illegal on this colony anyway." She tilted her head and then said, "You miss the wilderness, don't you?"

Iria nodded. "Not that it will stay wild. They'll be building cities soon. Bulldozing over lush fields, and probably killing an unknown number of new plant and animal life that sprang up there." She sighed. "That's progress...and I suppose I have to concede that that is what the planet was terraformed for in the first place."

"I suppose. Still, once they learned all the possibilities…well..." She trailed off and said, "What's that?" She pointed at a new email that popped up on the computer.

Iria read it, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that would be something completely illegal Dr. Po. And I think I understand why we got picked to be on this mission now."

"A good, old fashioned black market organ ring," Sally hissed between her teeth.

"You'd think with all the underground cloning markets this would go out of style," Iria whispered and shifted her position in the car.

"Nothing beats the classics. Besides, often this sort of thing...well... Use your imagination of what you could do with a stolen liver."

Iria paled. "Oh, that's where they get their-"

"Yes."

It started to rain.

J Colony tried its best to mimic seasons. The rain would likely turn into a thunderstorm shortly. The reflection of the garish neon lights along the street they were on looked beautiful against the black puddles forming on the street. The shadows cast by the raindrops made the inside of the car feel more cloying as well.

"Are you ready for this," Sally asked solemnly.

"No, but let's go. This is what we're here for."

Things had gone well until one of the one of the black market dealers got jumpy, then the wrong things got said, and everything ended in gun fire.

The lights in the underground lab were flickering and Sally was pressed up behind an over turned station full of lungs. She tried to determine where Iria was, and found herself actually thanking God when she spied the blonde ducking under a table. Everything was quiet except the occasional fall of glass and metal. Somewhere in the far corner of the room someone groaned in pain.

Sally took a deep breath and then shouted, "How many of you are still alive out there?"

There was no answer except for the groan which was growing fainter.

"Right."

It was Iria. She was standing up and Sally watched her for a moment before standing up herself and joining her by the only member of the operation that was still alive, but barely.

"Don't move," Iria told the man. "I'm going to try and save your life. And if I do, you will tell us everything we need to know."

The man nodded.

Sally quickly fell in line to aid Iria gathering equipment, and being the extra pair of hands she needed. At one point their eyes met and Sally almost smiled as she considered the possibilities and also the realities of what was held there.

She reached out her hand and grabbed Iria's shoulder.

"He's going to make it."

Iria nodded and shut her eyes. "Call in backup."

To be continued...


	4. The Red Sands and Cool Water

**Title: And then the Rain  
>Chapter 4: The Red Sands and Cool Water<br>Rating: PG-13  
>FF content. Characters are not mine. I am just borrowing.**

Ariadne was dotted with a few construction sites, and a good number of farms. There was still a lot that was wild about the planet though, wild and undiscovered. Iria listened to an oceanographer debate with an entomologist on what the greater discoveries were thus far on the shuttle ride. She quietly hoped she would be on a different shuttle for the next leg of the journey, and quietly thumbed through the pages of her book without really reading it.

She shut her eyes and tried to imagine the red desert. That was where she was going. It was quite literally red, or at least reddish. She had seen the pictures of the endless sea of reddish orange sand dunes. She could imagine the dry heat of the days coupled with the near freezing nights, and realizing she might have been imagining what she remembered from visiting Earth as a child.

Iria set her book down and opened her computer, scrolling through her many messages. There was one from Quatre asking about her health, which was a veiled attempt at asking about her overall life. He was keen to know about her love life, or lack there of. Not that he ever shared much about his romances.

He had, she noticed been spending an awful lot of time with a Preventer mechanic with dark curly hair. She wasn't sure she approved of the man, but felt privileged to have a small insight into her very private sibling's life.

There were no romances for her, at least nothing more than passing fancies. She didn't want to trouble Quatre with them, and he likely did the same thing. Honestly, she was sort of stuck on one person, but never knew how to get something started after arriving back to Earth.

Iria thought about Sally and her slow easy smile. She thought of the relief she felt when Sally had taken her out to gay bar after that night with the black market organ ring, and the unabashed way Sally flirted with the female bartender. Which, she understood was a sort of overwhelming hint for her to take, but she backed away from it. She wasn't even sure why.

Then there were other missions, and a patch of down time that found her in some stranger's bed with too many apologies, and never remembering to call to the next night, and a little guilt over the whole of it, because it wasn't really what she wanted, but it may have been what she needed.

The shuttle was approaching the colony and she turned her computer off. She looked out at the stars and tried to find the one's that made up Ariadne's crown. She mulled over the myth of the constellation and smiled. She'd have a better view of it soon.

Two connecting flights later and she was nearly there. There was just the short flight from the planet's moon down to the planet's surface left. Iria sat patiently in the waiting area with the others going down to the red desert. There were a handful of civilians mingling with the over excited scientists.

She found it hard to imagine wanting to live in a desert, but then she thought of the Magnac Corps and how proud they were of where they lived.

She opened her book again and then set it down when someone sat next to her. She tried not to laugh when it was Sally.

"Back to the wilderness," Sally said.

"Hardly that anymore, but I suppose fairly close," she replied. "What about you?"

"Extended stay."

"In the desert?"

"Where else?" Sally grinned and then said, "Don't answer that. Look, I've been thinking..." She shook her head. "I'm much more terrible at this than you think I am."

"What?"

"Trying to ask you on a date."

Iria grinned. "It's okay. I'm terrible at taking hints."

"So I've noticed." Sally looked over at where the shuttle was due to land just outside the windows. "Does it rain here?"

"It rains in the desert more than you would guess." She took a deep breath. "Sally, if we're-"

"I think the official rules don't apply when we're so far away from headquarters. Tell me about the desert."

End.


End file.
